i used to wonder what friendship could be
by Sara Jaye
Summary: It wasn't that Henry himself was overly affected by his past, but most people couldn't handle hearing it. Ricken is no exception.


The Shepherds almost never stayed at an inn. It was more Frederick's policy than anyone else's, _no need to waste money on one night in a building when we have perfectly good tents._ Some were perfectly fine with it, others not so much, but no one had complained enough to warrant ever changing the policy.

One night, though, it rained. Hard and out of nowhere, just after the latest battle wrapped up a storm had blown in and for once. Even Frederick had agreed that it was too risky to sleep outside, the tents might blow away or be soaked through.

So the Shepherds spent their first night at a local inn. Two to a room, and they would make their own meals the next morning instead of dining in the lodge.

And that's how Henry wound up sharing a bed with one of the first real friends he'd made in the army. Which wasn't a big deal, he was used to sharing with other soldiers back in the Plegian army. But Ricken seemed a little tentative about it.

"You're sure you don't mind?" Ricken asked. He lay close to the edge of the bed, as if he were still afraid Henry might bite him. Which kind of hurt even if Henry didn't dwell on it for long. "I mean-"

"If I didn't want to I'd have said something!" He threw an arm across Ricken's body and pulled him in closer. "Now stop teetering at the edge like that, or you might fall and land in a bloody heap! Mmm...blood..." Ricken laughed a little at that, and relaxed.

"Sorry." He blushed a little. "I mean, it's not like I've never done this before, it's just...er, we're stil getting to know each other! That's all! I don't wanna move too fast, you did say you-"

"Hey, hey!" Henry tapped him on the end of his nose. "I know what I said about not understanding friendship before, but I'm not some scared animal! Besides, you're not the first person I've had to bed with for a night. Just the first friend!"

"Oh...okay. Sorry." Ricken moved closer. "But, um, can we still get to know each other more? Like, what was your life like before you joined the army? I mean, the Plegian army?" Henry tensed slightly; he was used to throwing out bits of his past offhand like they were nothing, but this was the first time anyone had actually _asked_ about it. And just because he could handle talking or thinking about it didn't mean someone else could handle hearing about it.

"Um...tell me about you, first," he said.

"Oh, okay!" Ricken smiled. "Well, I'm actually a noble, but my family fell on hard times a while ago. The other nobles turned on us, and-well, I used to get picked on a lot anyway but after my family lost their fortune it got even worse. One time the other kids chased me into the woods and a pack of wolves came after me." _Wolves..._ Even though he wasn't too happy to hear Ricken was bullied, thinking about wolves made Henry's heart feel a little warm.

"Wolves, huh? So what happened? Obviously they didn't tear you to bloody shreds, since you're here, but did you get hurt?"

"No, Chrom chased them off. After that, I thought he was the greatest person ever...that's why I joined the Shepherds. Because Chrom saved me. He's like the big brother I never had." His voice seemed to fill with warmth when he spoke of Chrom, like Henry felt when he imagined the wolves. "I also thought if I joined the Shepherds I could figure out how to get my family's fortune back, but I don't know how. I keep hoping it'll come to me in a dream or something."

"That's really sweet of you to worry about them," Henry said. "They must love you a lot."

"Yeah, we're pretty close. I'm sure they're worried about me fighting in this war right now." Ricken moved a little closer, enough that Henry could feel the heat radiating from his body. It was a nice feeling, he realized. "You think your parents are worried about you?" he asked. Henry shrugged.

"Not really! They never even wanted me in the first place, so I can go off and spill all the enemy blood I want without writing home all the time," he said. Ricken frowned.

"Didn't want you? But-but you're their _son!_ That's not right!"

"Eh, not every kid's wanted by their parents. They weren't so great, anyway, the wolf who rased me after they dumped me in the woods was more of a mom than mine was. She was the best, always let me use her as a pillow and brought me food and smelled so good."

"Well...that's good, I guess, that she took care of you."

"Yep! But one day she came to visit me and the villagers shot her full of arrows! So I killed them, it's only fair," he continued, then went on to describe the wizard school where he'd almost burned his face off or outright died, the room full of spikes they used to put the kids in if they were bad and how many times _he'd_ been stuck in there...when he was about to move on to his initiation into the Plegian army, though, he heard a sniffling sound and felt Ricken shaking against him. "Hey! Hey, what gives?"

"Y-you were all alone...your own parents hated you, those awful people killed your only friend, and that terrible school..." Ricken blubbered, grabbing onto Henry's shirt and burying his face in his chest. "I'm sorry! I should've never asked!" Henry rolled his eyes. _This is why I didn't wanna tell you._

"Boy, you tell a kid about your tragic past and they fall apart on you." He gently pulled Ricken off of him and flicked his nose. "Stop that! I don't feel bad about it and neither should you."

"But-"

"But nothing." He smiled. "So my parents didn't want me and I got shoved in a room full of spiked. So what? I lived, and now I get to spill all the enemy blood I want! And best of all, no parents to fret at me!" Ricken didn't say anything, but he was beginning to calm down; his tears stopped and he was finally able to smile back at Henry.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Didn't mean to be a crybaby." Henry smoothed back the boy's mussed hair and laughed softly.

"Aw, it's okay. Just don't do it again, can't have my best friend in tears every time my past gets brought up," he said.

"Eh?" Ricken blushed; even though his cheeks were a bit red from crying Henry could tell it was a blush. He had a sixth sense for the way the blood pulsed and flowed beneath a person's skin. "Your..._best_ friend?"

"Why not? You're one of the first people I got to talk to when I joined, and the one who made me realize I actually cared about the people here." He wrapped his arms around Ricken, ruffling the back of the hair he'd just smoothed back. Ricken made a small content noise as he relaxed into the embrace.

"Good...because I think you're one of my best friends now, too," he said. "I...I really like you. And I'm glad you joined us even if you just did it so you could kill things." He yawned.

"Tired?" Henry pulled the blankets more tightly around them. Cold didn't bother him too much, but he didn't want Ricken to freeze during the night. "Sleep, then. We have a full day of bloodshed to look forward to tomorrow."

"Mm." Ricken was already dozing off. "Night, Henry." Henry smiled, resting his cheek against the other boy's hair. _Best friend._ He could get used to that. For the first time since his wolf friend's untimely death, he felt warm and fuzzy and it had nothing to do with blood.

"Sleep well, kiddo."


End file.
